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Guerrilla Girls use the F-word Feminism

As both an art enthusiast and feminist, I have mad respect for the radical art activists who call themselves the Guerrilla Girls. They wear furry gorilla masks and call out the art industry on its bullshit in a way that demands attention. There are some serious issues of discrimination and marginalization in the art world, one of which being the lack of representation in major modern art museums. I guess the only job more frustrating than being an artist is being a female artist of color.

The group was formed in the mid eighties and has been speaking out against this and similar issues ever since. The Pomona College Museum of Art currently opened an exhibition featuring the Guerrilla Girls’ posters and performances. And last week two of the Guerrilla Girls came to speak on campus. It was awesome to hear them talk about their cause and about how art can be used as a tool for social change.

They way that these women have fought back against an unjust system through art and graphic design is really cool. It was a really empowering show and lecture and I am thrilled that I was invited to attend.

The Met shows old art, and there’s really no way to remedy the gender imbalance there. Women, and the poor, didn’t get a chance to develop their artistic potential in the past, so there’s not a lot of work to choose from to represent them. Trying to even out the Met’s collection would be like trying to even out how the genders of scientists are represented in history books. I rather think most galleries today would welcome the art of a woman of color, assuming they liked the art. When I was in grad school white, male artists need not apply. I was told in no uncertain terms that I’d been heard from for 2,000 years, and nobody cared what I had to say anymore. I propose that we look at the intrinsic worth of people’s art irrespective of their gender or perceived “race” (there is only one race: homo sapiens sapaiens), and not privilege this or that art for external reasons. Artists as a group are already marginalized, and nowadays people are starting to realize that the bigger, and more significant divide, is not between men and women, or “races” and cultures, but between the 1% and the rest of us.